Political Quotes

“the family dairy farmers in Vermont and throughout this country are facing disastrous financial problems. While consumer milk prices have been going up, the price that the dairy farmer receives has been going down. Adjusted for inflation, the price Vermont dairy farmers receive has dropped 50 percent over the last 15 years. No wonder that today there are fewer than 2,000 dairy farms left in Vermont, and more and more of them are going out of business. Tragically, none of the proposals that we were permitted to vote on during the farm bill provided for a significant increase in dairy farm income. In fact, the proposal that was passed threatens to actually lower the price that farmers receive. Mr. Speaker, in an effort to save the family farm, the six New England States each have passed the Northeast dairy contract, which finally would provide dairy farmers a fair price for their product. In the final Senate bill, if the final Senate bill contains the Northeast dairy compact, this House must support that provision in the conference report. To do less would be to allow New England dairy farmers to disappear.”